The airplane that did the most to turn the tide of the war. (5 Viewers)

[MiTasol]

However limited, it did serve in Northern Europe.

The first USAAF victory over a Luftwaffe aircraft, was by a P-40C that crippled a Fw200 in 1942 near Iceland. The Fw200 was finished off by a P-38F.

In British service, the Tomahawk was based out of England for a short time in early 1941 with the RAF ACC for low level recon and served with No. 403 Sqdn. RCAF.

So the P-40 actually served in every theater and every continent (except Antarctica) during WWII.

And a lot of them were supplied to the Russians as well and I would classify that as Northern Europe.

I also agree that it did a lot of the hard yards without the glory the later aircraft got.

 

[drgondog]

However limited, it did serve in Northern Europe.

The first USAAF victory over a Luftwaffe aircraft, was by a P-40C that crippled a Fw200 in 1942 near Iceland. The Fw200 was finished off by a P-38F.

In British service, the Tomahawk was based out of England for a short time in early 1941 with the RAF ACC for low level recon and served with No. 403 Sqdn. RCAF.

So the P-40 actually served in every theater and every continent (except Antarctica) during WWII.

Dave - Actually the 56FS/54th FG did have P-40s in Alaska.

 

[yulzari]

The conclusive turning point in a war is when one side loses. Thus their ability to affect circumstances disappears entirely. The first such turning point was the fall of France in 1940 to which one cannot point to one particular aeroplane. The next could have been the fall of Britain, or at least a formal end to its involvement. That has to be put down to the Hurricane and it's supporting control system. The next could have been the fall of the Soviet Union in 1941. That it did not fall was again not attributable to a particular aeroplane. The final turning point was the Japanese attacks on the USA of 1942 (yes I know technically the last few weeks of 1941). Again, whilst the A6M gets the US press votes the other theatres were dependent upon the JAAF Ki27 and Ki43 so no one aeroplane gets the vote. The reversal from retreat to advance had one key aspect. The ability to degrade the Japanese war production by the extreme effective range of the B29 which brought the Japanese home islands within bombing range so the B29 gets a vote there but they needed bases which depended upon naval activity but is the aeroplane which did the most. Other types did their duties but there were several types which could have taken on another's role leaving the B29 as unique in the theatre.

If there is one aeroplane that played most significant role as a turning point it has to be the Hurricane by simple virtue of being the principal type in service at that key moment in time. If Britain and the Commonwealth had fallen or withdrawn then the rest would have had a very different and far worse world to cope with. Technically nothing special but it was very much the principal aeroplane carrying the task of defeating the Luftwaffe over Britain. Doing this despite their losses in the Battle of France just beforehand. Many aeroplanes were better fighters, even at the time, but they were not there, the Hurricane was and in numbers. It was still giving service at the end of the war. In small numbers and in backwaters plus the Royal Indian Air Force in Burma.

 

[Frog]

And a lot of them were supplied to the Russians as well and I would classify that as Northern Europe.

I also agree that it did a lot of the hard yards without the glory the later aircraft got.

Same for the P-39...

 

[GreenKnight121]

I'm going to put up the T-6 and the C-47.
.....
The C-47 carried goods that touched pretty much every allied country, as well as friendly combatant.

Cheers,
Biff

I also like that the C-47 was copied and then produced by both the Soviets and Japanese. It must have been good. Is there any other Allied aircraft that can claim to be produced by both an Axis and two Allied nations? I'm surprised the Germans didn't copy the C-47 as well. They liked it postwar.

The C-47 had Gen Eisenhower's nomination as "most valuable item of the war"... but then he WAS a career logistics/training/planning officer.

The C-46 & C-87 had significant effect in keeping China (and the US forces in China) in the war, as they flew almost all of the "Hump" cargo flights over the high mountains of north Burma and and southwest China.

 

[yulzari]

The C-47 had Gen Eisenhower's nomination as "most valuable item of the war"... but then he WAS a career logistics/training/planning officer.

The C-46 & C-87 had significant effect in keeping China (and the US forces in China) in the war, as they flew almost all of the "Hump" cargo flights over the high mountains of north Burma and and southwest China.

A valuable contribution to be sure and permitted airborne and air supplied operations but a turning point? Without the C47 the war would still be prosecuted albeit with changes, other, less suitable, aeroplanes substituting and alternative logistics employed.

I am impressed by what the C47 achieved but it was not a turning point I think. It was in use in large numbers only for the last three years of the war by which time the course of the war for the allies had moved from four years of defensive actions to offensive moves across the globe. To which it made a generous contribution but those offensives would still have happened, albeit with some changes.

I remain convinced of the accident in history that put the Hurricane in place as a turning point to defeat the Luftwaffe over Britain which permitted all the rest that followed.

Beyond the strict thread topic but I would give equal strength if not more to the combination of ground radar and fighter control system that Britain pioneered that allowed the Battle of Britain to be the first ever real time managed air war.

 

[WARSPITER]

Beyond the strict thread topic but I would give equal strength if not more to the combination of ground radar and fighter control system that Britain pioneered that allowed the Battle of Britain to be the first ever real time managed air war.

Fair comment though.

The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth liners were said by Churchill to have shortened the war by at least a year.
Turning the tide or going with it ? Either way, a big contribution.

 

[WATU]

There is a case for the VLR Liberator in Coastal Command. Certainly its impact was far greater on the Atlantic Campaign than the number deployed for that aircraft type. Closing the air gap in the central Atlantic was a crucial part of tipping that balance in favour of the Allies in the ETO.

 

[Warspite63]

The tide turns for Japan at At 7:56 AM on Dec. 7, 1941, one minute after their attack on Pearl Harbor commences. So, we could argue that the aircraft that turned the tide for Japan's war was the IJNS' Kate and Val bombers. Their attack on Pearl Harbor kicked a bickering, isolationist-leaning and complacent US Congress, industry and people into a focused mass of retributive destruction. If you kick a beehive, your boot may think it has an advantage, but you've just turned the tide and awakened the swarm.

While I agree that Japan's defeat was inevitable, the tide (in my opinion, anyway.......) reached its high-point at Coral Sea, and turned decisively at Midway. Until Coral Sea, the Japanese ran riot in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, sweeping all before them. Hindsight tells us that they could not have achieved a meaningful victory, but the Japanese Empire was clearly in the ascendant for the first 5 months of the Pacific war. My 2 cents.........

 

[pbehn]

I dont think that any aircraft type turned the war, however many individual or small groups of pilots and their aircraft had an effect far higher than their military worth. Events such as the killing of Yamamoto, injuring of Rommel, or even the accidental bombing of Croydon which led to a retaliatory raid on Berlin which led to Hitler getting involved and approving the bombing of London. Maybe that changed the way the BoB ran or maybe it didnt. Having Hitler intervening in military strategy was always a plus for the allies though.

 

[Frog]

The tankers carrying the fuel were among the main contributions to victory.

 

[Shortround6]

There is a case for the VLR Liberator in Coastal Command. Certainly its impact was far greater on the Atlantic Campaign than the number deployed for that aircraft type. Closing the air gap in the central Atlantic was a crucial part of tipping that balance in favour of the Allies in the ETO.

The Liberator gets the credit.
But the stuff that made the Liberator work gets skipped over.
And the changes in surface ASW are also glossed over.

 

[PAT303]

There's valid arguments in all the replies which leads us to only one conclusion as to which plane turned the tide of WW2, all of them.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

There's valid arguments in all the replies which leads us to only one conclusion as to which plane turned the tide of WW2, all of them.

Right, it's the same as asking what tank or what rifle or what battleship turned the tide. None of them, because WWII was a battle of systems; that battle was between weapons, weapons-systems, economic systems, and leadership.

 

[Frog]

Right, it's the same as asking what tank or what rifle or what battleship turned the tide. None of them, because WWII was a battle of systems; that battle was between weapons, weapons-systems, economic systems, and leadership.

And teamwork.

 

[WATU]

The Liberator gets the credit.
But the stuff that made the Liberator work gets skipped over.
And the changes in surface ASW are also glossed over.

Agreed. Very much one piece of the complex ASW jigsaw that came together so effectively by May 1943.

 

[pbehn]

Agreed. Very much one piece of the complex ASW jigsaw that came together so effectively by May 1943.

Much of WW2 was therefore about the ability to carry 50Cal Mgs and 22mm cannon over various distances and heights?

 

[WATU]

Much of WW2 was therefore about the ability to carry 50Cal Mgs and 22mm cannon over various distances and heights?

You lost me there?

 

[pbehn]

You lost me there?

Well ASW equipment was there, it was a fact that it was there on land, the Liberators ability to carry the stuff to the middle of the Atlantic and loiter there changed things, as much as the ability to make the ASW equipment did in the first place. A 50Cal or 20mm cannon didnt do anything at all for the air war until it was put in an aircraft.

 

[Greg Boeser]

Well ASW equipment was there, it was a fact that it was there on land, the Liberators ability to carry the stuff to the middle of the Atlantic and loiter there changed things, as much as the ability to make the ASW equipment did in the first place. A 50Cal or 20mm cannon didnt do anything at all for the air war until it was put in an aircraft.

Plenty of .50 caliber and 20mm AA guns.